Moon River
by One-Soul-Joy18
Summary: Harry is waiting for the river to swallow him whole. Hermione won't hear of it. Just a little one-shot. R&R please!


A/N- Just a little fic that was gnawing at me while I was practicing for a voice class. Normally I don't do Harry Hermione, but this one just seemed right. Please read and review! Enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer- If I owned either Harry Potter or Moon River I would be very rich. I am a poor college student. Do the math yourself.  
  
Moon River by one_soul_joy18  
  
He sat at the edge of the river back behind the Burrow, thinking. Thinking of everything he had planned. Thinking of all the things he wanted to do once the War was done. Thinking about how much like the river his life was. Slow, steady and predictable in some places, and then it would rain, and the river would over flow, and nothing would be like it was. He felt as if he knew nothing these days. Like everything he ever held dear to him was slowly slipping down the river as he sat and watched it go by.  
Wind skipped along the top of the river, causing small waves to appear at first, and then larger ones. Just like his life... one wave hits, and before the water has time to still, another comes crashing down on top of it. Which wave would hit next, he wondered. As if Cedric hadn't been enough. The wave hit, and then Sirius was gone. Maybe it was a good thing he had lost his parents so young. At least now he wouldn't have to watch them disappear, too. Before he knew it, Hermione would be gone. The very thought of it nearly broke what was left of his splintered, shattered heart.  
  
*Moon River Wider than a mile  
  
I'm crossing you in style... someday.*  
  
She was watching him from the window. Lately his sorrow was so evident. It loomed over him like a dark storm cloud, waiting for a release. She would be lying if she said she was not afraid for him. Not just in the context of the War, but fear of what he was doing to himself. She had watched as he had slowly begun to withdraw into himself, and pull away from anyone who loved him. Even Ron had commented on how distant he had been lately. It was at that time that she had decided to take care and watch over him.  
Three weeks ago she would have said that he had hope. Dreams. Ideas for the future, for a future for that matter. Now she was unsure. It was as if any hope he may have had, had escaped him. He talked to nearly no one and spent time near that river, just staring into it, as if he wanted it to take him away, more with every day. And she could understand. It must not be easy to know that the world's entire existence depended on you alone. Anyone with that responsibility would want to drown. But not her Harry. Not him.  
Where had her Harry gone?  
  
*Old dream-maker, you heart-breaker, Wherever you're going, I'm going your way. *  
  
His green eyes roamed the yard around him. This place used to hold such peace for him. Playing Quidditch. Explaining the function of the Rubber Ducky. Using Floo powder for the first time. Maybe that was the reason he kept coming back here. Because it held memories of a time when his life was good, and easy. Not safe. His life was never safe. But the Burrow was the closest he'd have had to a home. To a real place for his heart to be.  
The Weasley's and Hermione always made him feel loved. Hermione. Dear Merlin. The very thought of her made him unsure as to whether he wanted to scream for joy or weep from fear. Truly she was his biggest weakness. He wanted to take her and tuck her away somewhere safe until the end of this War, and then he wanted to take her out of the safety and marry her and have four hundred children...well maybe not four hundred. But a large sized family to be sure. Perhaps that was his desire to give what he never had. And yet he had been pushing her away lately. There were some times when he had been borderline cruel to her. But in his mind it was the only way to keep her safe.  
As he went through this thought process he began to realize what a fool he had been. It was an exercise in futility, pushing Hermione away. Even as she walked towards him, with determination written all over her face, and clear in her eyes, he knew that she would follow him anywhere he went. And he knew that was why he loved her. And then he had another brilliant realization.  
He loved her.  
  
*Two drifters off to see the world  
  
There's such a lot of world to see.*  
  
She sat down next to him, near the river that was his life. Suddenly the wind stopped blowing. How symbolic, he thought sardonically. His Hermione, his fear, his love was the only thing in his turmoil filled life that made everything alright again. One smile, one hug, one reassuring word, or even one condescending scold, and his world was back to normal, like nothing could ever be wrong again.  
She stared into his green eyes and watched them as they filled with emotion. Her heart began to swell with joy as she knew that everything would be alright again. No matter what would happen, nothing could ruin this moment. Her Harry had returned to her. The Harry that she worried for, the Harry that she followed. The Harry who helped her see past her books and exams and into the real world.  
Slowly she shifted her body until her side was resting against his, and then she leaned into him. Instinctively he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and she snuggled farther into his warm, protective embrace, taking in the feel and smell that was Harry. Underneath her hair, she began to cry.  
  
*We're after the same rainbow's end,  
  
Waiting round the bend,  
  
My huckleberry friend,*  
  
He held her close to his heart, where he knew she belonged, and let her cry. Her sobs wrenched his heart, and he was distressed to find his own tears slipping down his cheeks. What had this woman done to him? All of the barriers he had held up against the world were slowly slipping away. He knew, suddenly, that he did not want to be alone anymore. He needed his friends, his family. That's what they really were, he realized. They were his family, and as such they would stand by him until the end. They were waiting and hoping for the same outcome as he was.  
Her sobbing slowly became no more than a slight sniffling, and he unceremoniously offered her the sleeve of his shirt. She giggled, and sighed, finally having the ability and good sense to look up at him. The sight took her breath away. Red rimmed though they were, his eyes were a gorgeous shade of dark green, and his cheeks were flushed with embarrassment from letting her see him cry. She leaned up and, closing her eyes, slowly and softly kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her waist as hers wrapped around his shoulders, and he knew that things would be okay for now.  
For the moment, the waves had stopped falling, and the water had time to recouperate before the next big fall. His life might not be so crazy after all, he thought. And as they got up to walk back to the Burrow no words were needed. He looked back as the river that was beginning to pick up speed spit waves at him, trying to get him to pay attention. Not today.  
Today, things would be okay.  
  
*Moon River and Me...* 


End file.
